Shu Gui Fei was furious and laughed, laughing and crying, she had been waiting foolishly for the Emperor to give her justice after the Empress's move, to give the child an explanation. The whole story.

  But when she came to her senses, she weakly discovered that the emperor did not have much sorrow. Even though he looked painful on the surface, she knew that in his heart, he was actually not suffering.

  She comforted herself that it was just her own illusion, but after losing the second child as well, she finally realized that he really didn't care, or rather, he didn't want to have a child with her.

  Later, she gradually came to understand that even if the empress dowager hadn't intervened, her child still couldn't have been born. She had cried, complained, and hated, but she still deeply loved that person. She knew his righteousness, understood his responsibility, and knew his reasons.

  She tried every means to exonerate him, so she attributed all the blame to the empress. It was the empress who made her lose her own child, it was the empress who made her see the cruel reality, and it was the empress who made her become what she is today. Everything was the empress's fault.

  Maybe without the queen, that child could have been born.

  "This palace only lit a little bit of blood-activating incense in the censer, it's you who are useless, that little bit of incense could make you miscarry, don't blame this palace"

  At that time, she had been married to the king for less than two years. The emperor welcomed Qiao Jingyu as his concubine and soon became pregnant. Afterwards, he accompanied Qiao Jingyu every day, bestowing favors on her constantly. How could she rest easy knowing her husband was sleeping in another woman's chambers every night?

  Qiao Jing wiped away her tears, "Hmph, anyway you won't live for long. If you still want to do something good for your child, think carefully about what you should do. After all, I don't want to stain my hands with more blood either."

  "Will you let her go?" The queen asked hastily, seeing a possible turn of events.

  The Empress Shu sneered and didn't respond to her, stepping out into the bright sunlight with a gentle breeze.

  That year, she entered the Wang Mansion, also in this season, seemingly on a day with similar weather.

  Zichen Hall

  "I understand, Kun Ning Palace doesn't need you anymore, go back and change to another place," Zong Zhengjin waved his hand, the palace maid kneeling below quickly retreated.

  "What kind of person is Shu Gui Fei?"

  Inside the palace, apart from the Emperor, there was only Su Shunian. Su Shunian knew that he was being asked about himself and couldn't avoid it, so he thought for a moment before answering, "I used to think that Consort Shu was quite all right, gentle and soft-spoken, and also kind to the servants."

  The palace maid just now was the emperor's informant planted in the Kun Ning Palace, and she came to repeat the conversation between the empress and Consort Shu from that day.

  "Earlier," Zong Zhengjin coldly snorted, "I have always known that none of these women are any good."

  He didn't know what kind of creature women were, at first he just treated them as tools for releasing his desires. From the age of 13 when he first had sex, to getting married and having a nominal wife, he once thought about living in harmony with her, respecting each other like guests. But after discovering that she was not trustworthy time and time again, he completely gave up.

  Heaven knows how devastated he was when he first heard that his wife had secretly put medicine in the food of other concubines to prevent them from getting pregnant, thinking she was as innocent and kind as she seemed on the surface, but behind his back, she was a venomous woman, cruel to the point of murder.

  Su Shunan stood at the bottom, not daring to say a word. Seeing that the emperor's originally gloomy face had slowly cleared up, and finally even showed a hint of a smile, he was taken aback, and immediately guessed that the emperor must have thought of the one in Guan Yu Palace, his head involuntarily hung lower.

  "Let's go, I should also go see her for the last time."

  Kunning Palace

  "The Emperor has arrived." The Empress remained seated on the ground, maintaining the posture she had taken after Shu Guifei left. She adjusted herself and knelt down, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."

  Zong Zhengjin swept a glance around, and there was no one in the entire hall. The eerie and desolate atmosphere was indescribable. "Where are your palace maids?"

  Logically speaking, even if everyone else left, her personal maid shouldn't have left either.

  The queen did not answer him, staring blankly at him with her eyes wide open, and hooked the corner of her mouth. "Is Your Majesty here to see me for the last time?"

  "Zong Zhengjin glanced at her, 'Do you have anything else to say?'"

  "But seeing the old scars, I don't know who to blame," The empress lowered her head, her eyes staring blankly at the floral pattern on the floor. "The peach blossoms smiled and emerged from the hedge, as if they were about to bloom but hadn't yet, that year when the peach blossoms were in full bloom, I was filled with hope of marrying Your Majesty, now it's been ten years in the blink of an eye."

  "Yes, it's been ten years," Zong Zhengjin also recalled that year of their grand wedding.

  "I, your concubine, have truly loved Your Majesty, but fate is unpredictable, and emotions run deep or shallow without one's control. I implore Your Majesty to consider my ten years of hard work and let me take sole responsibility for past mistakes. After death, I am willing to enter the Avici Hell, where I will quietly atone for my sins."

  "I only ask Your Majesty, do not implicate Ya'er, she is still just a child. After I am gone, please take care of her a bit more and let her grow up safely. Later, marry her off to an ordinary family and let her live a peaceful life."

  Zong Zhengjin nodded, "Yes, she is also my daughter."

  Even if he wasn't very clear about his daughter's appearance, he couldn't remember how long it had been since he last saw her. The former queen didn't want to let her show herself in public, and later forced her to study etiquette every day, without any spare time to spend with him, and he didn't have the patience for that either.

  The empress knocked her head three times on the ground, "So be it, your humble servant thanks Your Majesty."

  "There is one thing, however, that I wish to tell Your Majesty before I die. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

  "You tell me."

  "Your Excellency Yu," Zong Zhengjin said, standing outside the door.

  Yu Zhou had been suddenly dragged into prison, and he understood many things. In the past two days, he thought back and forth, and he had already figured out what happened. Things have come to this, and he can only accept his fate.

  From the beginning of plotting this matter, I had already thought through the consequences. The arrow has been shot and cannot be retrieved. If it is not successful, then I will die for the cause.

  "Your Majesty has come to visit me again," Yu Zhou stood up and walked closer.

  "Let's just see how you die," said Zong Zhengjin calmly.

  Yu Zhou's expression changed slightly as he thought of something, "You already know everything, it seems you really hate me."

  More Than Hate

  "You and your mother don't look alike at all, your mother she"

  "I don't allow you to mention her, you're not worthy," Zong Zhengjin cut him off sternly, his tone laced with disgust.

  Yu Zhou sighed, "Yes, I'm not worthy"

  At first, he followed the emperor to Jiangnan for a tour, and accidentally met that woman. With just one glance, he was shocked by her beauty. He knew that such a woman would make any man fall for her, including emperors.

  So he inquired about the woman's background, and naturally knew that she was already engaged. But how could he let go of this opportunity? He took advantage of it to introduce her to the previous emperor. Later, things happened as he had expected: the previous emperor brought her back to the palace, granted her imperial favor, and he himself rose step by step to become a prime minister.

  But as he rose through the ranks, his mansion grew larger and the silver in his treasury increased. He had many wives and concubines, but at night, he would always think of the woman who had caught his eye in passing. Every time he thought about how beautiful she was, lying in another man's arms at night, he would become enraged to the point of madness.

  He was almost abnormal in his collection of women who looked like that woman, and he frantically sought after the virtual pleasure, but these were still far from enough, so when the Yuans proposed that plan, he didn't even hesitate to agree.

  Later events developed smoothly according to his expectations, only without that man, and Empress Xi was not unchaste. How could he bear to let other men touch her? He just added a few more sentences of slander and so-called eyewitness accounts, and the late emperor believed it in such a ridiculous way.

  He just didn't expect her to be so resolute, and actually choose to die in such a miserable way, willing to sacrifice her own life for the child of another man.

  "Where did you finally surrender? I can make your death more comfortable," Zong Zhengjin said, seeing that he had been silent for a long time, and could only break the silence by speaking.

  Yu Zhou sneered, "So you still don't know, huh? You think I'd hand her over to you?"

  That's right, after Xi Fei died, he secretly sneaked into Chang Le Palace, stole her body out and set fire to Chang Le Palace. The former emperor thought she was dead in the sea of fire, but it wasn't.

  Zong Zhengjin's face was calm, but his eyes seemed to darken even more, "Do you still want to be buried with her after you die?"

  He sent people to search Yu's residence, not just for so-called evidence of treason, but to find the ashes of his mother, the empress dowager.

  Yu Zhou shook his head, "I know I no longer have this chance," he had indeed wanted to share a grave with her after death.

  But when he sensed that the emperor would not tolerate him and was unwilling to let him survive in this world, he had no choice but to take a gamble. If he won the gamble, he could fulfill his wish; if he lost, it would be no different from the current situation.

  "So you want her to be alone and lonely until she dies, and you're not even willing to do anything for her?" Zong Zhengjin said sarcastically.

  Yu Zhou coldly snorted, "What I couldn't get, others can't have either. Even if he had her when he was alive, after death, he still can't rest with her."

  "Hmph," Zong Zhengjin said disdainfully. "Neither of you two should think about being with her, nor are you allowed to disturb her peace."

  "You" Yu Zhou was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to have such thoughts. "Forget it, you're her son, she must also hope that you'll be the one to let her rest in peace."

  Zong Zhengjin got the message he wanted, "I suppose she wouldn't want to see you again even after her death."

  Palace Concubine (Yi Shu)

  Gong Shu